Nutritious food for one-year-old with few teeth?

Hi, my son just turned one year old. We're still BF'ing on demand while we're together but I'm starting to work on pump-weaning while at work. The thing is, my son only has four teeth and just doesn't eat a whole lot of solids yet which gives me concern about pump weaning. I plan to keep one pumping session a day for a few more months but that will only net me maybe 4-6 oz. My mom watches DS during the day while I work and she has offered him a variety of things to try to get him to eat more solids but he just doesn't eat much. I think a lot of the problem is he has so few teeth, that it's really difficult for him to chew anything.

He loves oatmeal and yogurt and eats those quite well. He also loves fruit and will eat quite a bit of that (e.g. most of a peach or a plum, several slices of apple, half a banana, or 1/4 cup cut up melon), but even though fruit is healthy, it doesn't have many calories so I don't feel like I can rely on it for his nutrition. He also really likes cheese, especially string cheese. Breakfast for him is generally some baby oatmeal mixed into some yogurt to make a paste-like consistency which he then spoon feeds to himself (he's getting pretty good at spoon-feeding himself). Lunch varies; it might be scrambled eggs, an omelette, lentil soup, a grilled cheese, pieces of torn-up chicken, a black bean and cheese quesidilla, a piece of bread spread with a little peanut butter, etc. He has trouble eating the chicken due to lack of teeth and can't eat steak for this reason. He also just won't eat much of anything besides yogurt, oatmeal, fruit, or cheese; he seems to like black beans well enough but will only eat a very small amount. Same with the omelettes or scrambled eggs my mom is making for him. Sometimes he eats dinner with us if he's not too tired, or sometimes we just nurse a lot when I get home and he goes to bed before we eat dinner so he doesn't eat dinner those days, just breakfast, lunch, and maybe an afternoon snack. He nurses on demand several times in the morning before I go to work and gets one or two bottles of milk while I'm at work (so 3-7 oz total).

I'm at a loss of what to do to get him to eat more solids (especially high calorie/high protein) so that he doesn't need pumped milk during the day. I'm perfectly happy to nurse whenever I'm home, although I do worry that now that he's turned one and is getting so big about whether he's getting enough to eat subsisting mostly on my milk. (I know we need to start giving him dinner every night--we will be doing that, starting this week). I realize he will get more teeth sooner or later, so do I just wait it out and keep pumping multiple times a day in the meantime? I don't think it's a food or texture aversion as he will eat lots of different things, just not very big quantities. I could get him to eat more by giving him 'junk', such as goldfish crackers, cookies, scones, etc. but I don't think that's a very desirable way to solve the problem. I've been thinking about mashed potatoes and pasta as two things he hasn't tried that might be easy without many teeth. Anyone have other suggestions or ideas for me?

Also do you think he's getting enough to eat seeing as he still lives mostly off my milk and doesn't eat a lot of solids? We have a doctor's appointment in a couple weeks and we'll see how much he's gained then. He was already over 20 lbs at his 9 month appt and we haven't been back since. He nurses A LOT while I'm home--I feel like I can hardly put my boob away before he's asking for it again. I think some of that is comfort/bonding with Mommy after I've been away all day, and some of it is from hunger. He usually wakes to nurse once or twice during the night, which is manageable for me. I'd say in total we're nursing at least 7-8 times per day while I'm home, but some of those are very short sessions, only a minute or two. Thanks in advance for any help

First-time mama to Joshua, 10/29/11. 38 months ; now trying to wean. for 14 months; now finished with pump weaning!

Re: Nutritious food for one-year-old with few teeth?

It sounds like you're offering healthy foods and a good variety. I'd just keep offering and try not to stress about it. You can't make him eat. And it's not like he's not eating because you haven't hit on the right foods to offer him, he's not eating because he doesn't want to eat. Some kids just aren't all that interested in solids until they're older. I don't think it has a whole lot to do with teeth either. I've seen some toothless kids chow down on finger foods.

I'd also not worry about continuing to give him milk while you're not there. It sounds like he's nursing more than enough when you're together. Not having breast milk during the day might encourage him to eat more. It might not, too, and that's not really anything to worry about either. Breastmilk is the primary source of nutrition up to age one, and then it's a slow transition from milk to solid foods:

“We are not put on earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you.”
--Anonymous

Re: Nutritious food for one-year-old with few teeth?

Yeah. You really don't have anything to worry about. Your child is still getting MOST of his nutrition from you. And my child who I consider to be a very good eater at that age and was eating 3 meals a day plus snacks, was eating his meals off of plates from a cup & saucer set. THAT was the amount of food we were setting out in front of him. Weaning begins here. This is not where you are going to see some sort of huge lateral jump from breastmilk to solids because you pump wean. In a 24hour period he is spending a third of his day away from you. So there is only a 30% period of time where he doesn't have full access to the complete nutrition from your breastmilk. And even with that the amount you are still sending him literally COVERS 30% of his meal needs. So just keep offering and keep offering new things. But I think your variety of food choices sounds quite great.
I will say I didn't see avacado listed and that is basically like green nature butter. I would serve plain and also spread it on whole wheat bread and feed.
I also like artichokes, Whole pinto beans, Whole wheat corkscrew pasta and spaghetti noodles, and Brown Rice or Barely. Those are easy whole grain carbs that are easy to spoon or hand feed and don't require much in terms of teeth to eat.

Re: Nutritious food for one-year-old with few teeth?

I concur -- you seem to be doing very well! A few tips, which feels silly making since my LO has days where she barely eats a crumb: one food my LO seems to love -- although some day still throws them all on the floor -- are pancakes. I make whole wheat pancakes with no sweetener. I'll usually add pumpkin or something to make them a little more substantial. Also, her new thing is crackers dipped in hummus, although I think she likes the dipping more than the eating of the hummus, as she usually makes a face when she gets too much hummus. And occasionally I'll make her some carrot or pumpkin muffins.

Mom to my sweet little "Pooper," born 10/12/11, and "Baby Brother," born 6/23/2014, and married to heavy metal husband. Working more than full-time, making healthy vegetarian meals for family, and trying to keep up with exercise routine.

Re: Nutritious food for one-year-old with few teeth?

Thanks to all of you. I appreciate the advice. Shelly, we've tried avocado, but oddly he doesn't seem to like them (even though it's one of his Mommy's favorite foods!). I've offered pasta a handful of times, he does seem to like spaghetti noodles, I'll try the corkscrew shape and see if he goes for it. I'm going to try roasted carrots and potatoes, too...I don't think he eats enough veggies. (He will eat tomato, cucumber, and asparagus, but turns his nose up at broccoli or salad). I guess I've just been worried about getting him to eat more because you hear 'food until one is just for fun' which kind of implies that AFTER one, it's nutritionally necessary, yet he really doesn't eat a lot. But I can't make him eat and I don't want to get into a power struggle about it. I just have to trust that he won't starve himself once I stop providing breastmilk during the day. He's kind of a big boy, near the 75% percentile for height and 50th for weight at his last appointment, so you'd think I'd worry less about his eating. I'm glad to hear that your kids didn't eat a whole ton of solids at this age, either. Makes me feel more like we're on track/where we should be with regard to the solids thing.

First-time mama to Joshua, 10/29/11. 38 months ; now trying to wean. for 14 months; now finished with pump weaning!

Re: Nutritious food for one-year-old with few teeth?

It will probably take a while for him to like salad. Until recently, Trixie seemed to think we were feeding her grass or something. We just give the kids a little bit of whatever we have on our plates - if they eat it great, if they don't .

Re: Nutritious food for one-year-old with few teeth?

Sorry to keep asking so many questions about the solids/pump weaning transition etc., but I'm wondering if anyone has links to good resources supporting continuing to breastfeed on demand past a year? We have my son's one year appt with his pedi coming up and I'm kind of worried she's going to tell me he needs to be eating more solids and that I should cut back on our nursing sessions to encourage him to eat more. She wanted him on 3 meals a day even at 9 months (I just ignored her on that one) and is the type to think that breastfeeding past a year is not necessary. I know there's plenty of benefits to continued nursing, but I really don't want to cut our sessions to just 3 or 4 a day yet, which is what I expect she will recommend. It would be helpful to have resources to push back with, both with her and my DH. DH is great about the whole nursing thing and supports me nursing into toddlerhood, but if the doctor tells me to limit sessions I have a feeling he'll agree with her, and I don't want to do that yet. There's not really a reason to limit BF'ing at this point, is there?

First-time mama to Joshua, 10/29/11. 38 months ; now trying to wean. for 14 months; now finished with pump weaning!